Five Batavia Muckdogs will be playing in this year’s New York-Penn League All-Star game.

This is the fourth time in five years that a large number of Muckdog players have made the All-Star roster.

Infielders Breyvic Valera and Patrick Wisdom, Catcher Jesus Montero, and Pitchers Tyler Melling and Lee Stopleman made the cut to play in the game in Ohio on Tuesday, August 14th.

Valera, an undrafted free agent signing in 2010, has played in 45 games for the Muckdogs this year and has been among the league leaders in hitting all season. Valera currently ranks third in the league in hitting, with a .332 batting average, and his 62 hits currently leads the league.

Patrick Wisdom was drafted by the Cardinals in the supplemental 1st round of this year’s draft and is enjoying a stellar first professional season. He is currently batting .278 with 27 runs scored, 10 doubles and 16 RBI’s in 41 games. Wisdom has also played great defense at third base this season and ranks first in the league for defense at that position with a .963 fielding percentage with only 4 errors.

Montero was an undrafted free agent signing in 2007 and has started 33 games at catcher for the Muckdogs this season. He is currently batting .308 with 6 doubles, 4 home runs and 21 RBI’s. Montero has also been solid behind the plate this year and has helped guide the pitching staff to a team ERA of 2.98, which ranks third in the league. Montero will be unable to attend the game due to injury.

A 39th round pick out of Miami (OH) University in the 2011 draft, Melling is 2-1 with 31 strikeouts in 8 games started for the Muckdogs. The left-hander’s ERA of 2.27 ranks him 8th in the league and his WHIP of 1.06 ranks 11th in the league.

St. Louis drafted Stoppelman out of Central Missouri State in the 24th round of the 2012 draft. He has appeared in 14 games and has a 2-1 record with a 1.16 ERA. In 23.1 innings of work, he has struck out 26 batters and only allowed 15 hits. Opposing batters are hitting just .174 against him on the year.

Muckdogs General Manager Travis Sick said it’s very exciting to hear the five were chosen.

“It’s where all the top talent in our league kind of comes together and kind of showcases the prospects and the kind of players who are in the New York-Penn League. A lot of talent comes through here and you’re going to probably see more than a few of these guys who are playing in the All-Star game make it to the major leagues someday with their respective club,” said Sick.

Sick said the All-Star game is expected to be a good one as the best in the NY-Penn League will play together.

The game will take place at Eastwood Field, home of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.